Binance seeks protective order against SEC

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance filed for a protective order against the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday, claiming the regulator’s requests for information to be “overbroad” and “unduly burdensome”.

BAM Trading, the operating company of Binance U.S., and BAM Management said in a court filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia that the organisation has already provided sufficient information to the regulator.

The protective order seeks, among other things, to limit the SEC to four depositions of BAM personnel and to withdraw the depositions of BAM’s chief executive and CFO without identifying anyone.
Binance and the SEC did not respond to requests for comment straight away.

In June, US regulators filed a lawsuit against Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly operating a “web of deception”, alleging that the company artificially inflated its trading volumes, diverted customer funds, failed to restrict US customers from its platform and misled investors about its market surveillance controls.

“The SEC has yet to identify any evidence that customer funds were misused or dissipated in any way,” the document states.

According to the filing, the SEC has rejected BAM’s proposals to reasonably limit its requests and opposes the request for a protective order.